


Whitebeards mistake Ace for a Spy

by Turtletails



Category: One Piece
Genre: Ace is a hot head, Aria's use to it, Gen, Haruta's about ready to drop kick someone, Other times you find it, Sometimes family finds you, the rest of the crew learn something
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:34:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24262153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Turtletails/pseuds/Turtletails
Summary: While there are some who suspect Ace has a tie to the Marines, just not the way he actually does, Someone unexpected shatters their suspicions.Alternatively: Author shoved a sister on the boys and a friend asked what if slavers and this happened.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 62





	Whitebeards mistake Ace for a Spy

Alternately: The Whitebeards find out more about their freed world noble slave, including about the family she left behind.

The Moby was mostly quiet when one of the smaller ships started approaching it. Thatch had warned Ace last night at dinner that a squad would be returning sometime the next day from checking out a few of their protected territories. In all honesty, he was trying to avoid meeting them. Since he was just done with Haruta’s suspicions about him. That had somehow spread to the rest of the crew. (If he had one more undercover Marine come up to him and try to “touch base” he might just fry them.) So, of course, he wasn’t looking forward to meeting more of the crew.

That reluctance grew when the first pearls of laughter started on the other side of the deck. He got it, kinda. The group was coming back after nearly four months, so the new additions could have been talking about just anything. But it still kinda grated on him and so Ace moved from where he was towards Pop’s seat. No one would bug him there and if they did it wouldn’t be about any of that marine spy bullshit.

Whitebeard, of course, didn’t say anything, he just watched his newest son take up a place behind him. He had heard of the rumors of Haruta’s suspicions of course. All of the commanders came to him eventually about one thing or another. Even from his seat, he could hear them, those returning calling out to missed friends and siblings. There were a few that were quickly breaking away from the pack, greeting each other in rather privet ways that he quickly ignored. He carefully sorted out one voice among them, taking a drink from his gourd to hide the proud and pleased smile.

A part of him knew that his children would look out for each other, do their best to come back to him and he loved them of course. But there were certain members of his children that held special places in his heart. Once such child had been heading that group. She was strong and driven, upfront with many things about herself, and the only thing that would ever draw her away from being loyal to the crew was her loyalty to two brothers she had left behind.

Been forced to leave really. Sold into slavery four years ago and broke herself and everyone else on those marine ships free, Rowen D. Aria was a force that just kept growing. A force Whitebeard was certain would be key in helping his children stay together when he finally passed. It was only a matter of time. But for now, the young hopeful candidate for Commander was making her way across the ship’s deck.

Many of the crew were eager to at least say hi before she made it to him. Some of them warning her about the new additions made during her time away. She just laughed, chatting as she kept moving. Haruta tried to catch her, following closely as she kept going. He was no doubt trying to warn her of the new Marine spy on board. The thought made Whitebeard chuckle. Honestly, his children sometimes. Behind him, Ace grumbled and muttered to himself that he wasn’t a spy.

“Haru, come on man. You know I don’t care for that shit. You get solid proof then I’ll put stock in it.” Aria laughed, shoving Haruta off her.

“But he fights....” Haruta started, ready to list everything he had when she just laughed again.

“Ya, so do I. Come on man, how many here have some relative or another in the Marines they're trying to forget? Or have you forgotten the three weeks you spent silenced when you wouldn’t stop hounding Cara about her heritage?” Whitebeard noticed when Ace went quiet as the two drew closer. There was a stillness to his new son that he found concerning. Perhaps he would ask later.

“Okay so I was wrong there, but come on! Nothing about him makes sense. Besides, it’s that rookie you had your eye on.” Haruta groaned, “He’s from the East Blue.”

“Oh ya, nothing good comes from there. Ya got what? Garp the Fist, The Pirate King, Dragon, Red-hair and most of his crew. Ya, totally just spitting out Marines that one.” Aria snorted, rolling her eyes.

“I certainly hope you’re not forgetting to include yourself in that,” Whitebeard interjected, chuckling.

“I don’t forget nothing, Pops. You should know that,” Aria teased, grinning up at him. “Other than a few rookies, some really dumb marines and a reminder to one pink fluffy bastard to stay off your islands, all’s calm on the home front.”

Whitebeard frowned, looking very carefully at Aria. She appeared to be fine. But like many of his children, she knew how to hide wounds well. (Somewhere on the ship several doctors had the same thought of a pot meeting a kettle.)

“I thought I gave the order to contact us, little one.” Aria just kept grinning, looking very unapologetic at his words.

“If we needed the extra power. We didn’t. I told you I could whip them into shape.” Aria sassed, laughing when Haruta grabbed her and pulled her in for a noogie.

“Brat! That’s not how you answer him.” Aria shoved Haruta off again, laughing then he lunged at her, ducking away easily.

“Oi! Knock it off you two, yoi.” Marco only had to walk up for Haruta to stop trying to get Aria. She just snickered, standing there casually. Whitebeard had noticed when Ace had gotten up. He was now coming round his chair, feeling angry.

The anger was normal, someone would say something or do something and Ace’s temper would flare. But he usually kept it under some control. But as he walked out fully from behind Whitebeards chair, the older man didn’t miss the look of rage on his face. That was concerning.

Aria knew the only reason she was alive at certain points in her life was because of three things. Her mastery of Observational Haki that now rivaled even Katakuri, the strange luck that seemed to follow certain D’s and three boys who had watched her back and cracked open her walls as they grew up together.

It was the first that had her dodging the sudden flaming fist that came her way, knowing who went still and who was ready to defend. She waved them all off, unable to fight off the grin on her face. It was the third that gave her insight into what was going on. After all, she hadn’t seen her big brother in almost four years. It was pretty normal for him to be pissed about it.

Haruta had been right after all. She’d been keeping close tabs on him once she’s seen his wanted poster. She’s been expecting it after all. Seventeen. The age they had all finally agreed on when it was time to leave Dawn. And he had turned that three months before his first poster showed up.

“Well, that’s a nice greeting you got there. Gonna tell me what’s got you on the prowl?” Aria’s grin faltered, reading Ace’s lips before he even started speaking.

“You’re wearing the face of a dead girl. Mind telling me where you stole it? Or shall I take a guess?” Ah, right. For a moment there she’d forgotten. Forgotten that Outlook had murdered a girl who looked like her right in front of her, bragging about mutilating her and tossing the body out into Gray terminal to be found by her brothers. Guess he’d done a good enough job in fucking the body up enough to fool them.

“Whoa, Ace. How about we take a step back for a minute...?” Of course, it’s Thatch who stepped up trying to cool off the situation. He was a chef after all, far to use to open flames and heat to be to bothered by it. Unfortunately Ace was not a stove or fire pit. He was a Devil Fruit user who was pissed off. And Aria was thinking quick. 

There were things that she would never repeat anywhere about Ace and things that he would never speak of. But in between those things are gray area’s. Things that still ache and hurt but given enough need they would come out. Usually, if enough drinks were involved too. One of those Grey area’s was never say names unless you trusted the person with nearly everything. (A hard lesson learned for the older two after someone caught Luffy suddenly.)

“Ya know, I should probably check and see if Outlook really lost that eye. I know I got him pretty good with that knife but it might not have been deep enough to actually do the damaged I wanted.” Just out of the corner of her eye she could see Haruta scowl like he always did when he thought she was being too obtuse. 

“What’s that pompous ass noble we ran into when they were trying to get to a damn wedding got to do with anything?” Haruta asked, still scowling at her. Oh, he was going to make her pay later. But that was fine, she would take whatever prank he pulled later for kept her silence. Or punishment if he decided not knowing warranted it. 

“Oh come on, Hatura. I know you didn’t miss how much he hated me. Of course there was history there,” Aria teased, keeping Ace just in the corner of her eye. Good, he at least had managed to stop and think about her words. Guess his time as a captain had managed that. Sabo would have been so proud. Right after fighting with him for not listening most likely. 

“We’re born of the Gray, forever stained and unwanted...” Ace wasn’t looking at her, reciting words that had followed them their whole childhoods. 

“...born of the trash and refuse, mark forever no matter how clean our skin is. We can leave the Gray but the Gray never leaves us.” Aria answered, watching now fully. She didn’t miss the bewildered looks several of guys around them were making. “Ya know, I watched that bastard kill that girl. Slit her throat right in front of me as he promised to leave her out to be found. Kinda spent four years wondering if she was some illegitimate child of his or something for him to do that with his own hands.” 

Ace practically stalked up to her, shaking in something that wasn’t fully rage but wasn’t just sorrow either. There was a tense moment of silence, not a single soul watching dared to even move. His hand came down on the top of her head quickly, but she didn’t move. 

“Why the hell didn’t you come home!” Ace was shaking, eyes sharp with anger even as they shined a little. “We though you were.... why....?”

“I was sold,” she whispered, just loud enough for him to hear. It was the worse kept secrete on the Moby and the brand was gone but still, she hated saying it. “and how could I bring all that back with me to my impossible older brother and crybaby little brother? Even Gramps wouldn’t have been able to hide that.” 

He continued to glare at her, breathing just a bit heavily with everything he was feeling before suddenly pulling her into a noogie as well. She squawked and then tension seemed to snap, squirming out from under his hold and darting away when he gave chase. 

“Gonna have to try better then that, I’m a lot faster then I use to be.~” She teased, grinning as he took the challenge just like she thought he would. Well looks like she wasn’t hated after all. (And if later, long after the sun had gone down, she found him on deck alone and sat with him, well that was her right to. No one else had to know about the arm he wrapped around her in a way so no one could see it. Or how he leaned against her ever so slightly as they talked for hours about Dawn island and Luffy and all the things they had both missed in the last four years. No one would say anything about finding the two sound asleep on deck just before dawn, after all.)


End file.
